Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Questioned document examination
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==Scope of document examination== A forensic document examiner is intimately linked to the [[legal system]] as a [[forensics|forensic scientist]]. Forensic science is the application of science to address issues under consideration in the [[legal system]]. FDEs examine items (documents) that form part of a [[Legal case|case]] that may or may not come before a [[court]] of law. Common criminal charges involved in a document examination case fall into the "[[white-collar crime]]" category. These include [[identity theft]], [[forgery]], [[counterfeiting]], [[fraud]], or uttering a forged document. Questioned documents are often important in other contexts simply because documents are used in so many contexts and for so many purposes. For example, a person may commit murder and forge a suicide note. This is an example where a document is produced directly as a fundamental part of a crime. More often a questioned document is simply the by-product of normal day-to-day business or personal activities. For several years, the [[ASTM|American Society for Testing and Materials, International (ASTM)]] published standards for many methods and procedures used by FDEs. E30.02 was the ASTM subcommittee for Questioned Documents. These guides were under the jurisdiction of ASTM Committee E30 on Forensic Sciences and the direct responsibility of Subcommittee E30.02 on Questioned Documents. When the ASTM Questioned Document subcommittee was disbanded in 2012 the relevant standards moved under the Executive Subcommittee E30.90; however, those standards have all been withdrawn over time.<ref name="astm_note"/> Those standards, as well as links to updated versions of the documents, are presently available on the SWGDOC (The Scientific Working Group for Document Examiners) website.<ref name="swgdoc">{{cite web |url=https://swgdoc.org/ |title=SWGDOC Published Standards |publisher=Scientific Working Group for Forensic Document Examination (SWGDOC) |access-date=17 November 2023}}</ref> In 2015, the AAFS Standards Board (ASB) was formed to serve as a Standards Developing Organization (SDO). The ASB is an ANSI-accredited subsidiary of the [[American Academy of Forensic Sciences]] and the Forensic Document Examination Consensus Body within the ASB has published several relevant Standards.<ref>{{cite web |title=Academy Standards Board Search |url=https://www.aafs.org/search/standards?_page=1&keywords=&_limit=7&consensus_body=435&status_standard=4 |website=AAFS |access-date=5 June 2023}}</ref> One of those is the ''Scope of Expertise in Forensic Document Examination'' document<ref name=ASB_011>{{cite web |title=Scope of Expertise in Forensic Document Examination |url=https://www.aafs.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/011_Std_e1.pdf |publisher=Academy Standards Board |access-date=5 June 2023 }}</ref> which states an examiner needs "discipline specific knowledge, skills, and abilities" that qualifies them to conduct examinations of documents to answer questions about: # the source(s) of writing; # the source(s) of machine-produced documents; # the source(s) of typewriting, impressions, and marks; # the associations of materials and devices used to produce documents; # the genuineness and authenticity of documents; # the detection and decipherment of alterations, obliterations, and indentations, and; # the preservation and restoration of legibility to damaged or illegible documents"<ref name=ASB_011 /> Some FDEs limit their work to the examination and comparison of handwriting; most inspect and examine the whole document in accordance with this standard. ===Types of document examined=== Documents feature prominently in all manner of business and personal affairs. Almost any type of document may become disputed in an investigation or litigation. For example, a questioned document may be a sheet of paper bearing handwriting or mechanically-produced text such as a ransom note, a forged cheque, or a business contract. It may be material not normally thought of as a "document"; FDEs define the word "document" very broadly, as any material bearing marks, signs, or symbols intended to convey a message or meaning to someone. This includes, for example, [[graffiti]] on a wall, stamp impressions on meat products, and covert markings hidden in a written letter.
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)